Bob Ackles, B.C. Lions president and CEO, dies

SURREY, British Columbia — Bob Ackles, the one-time B.C. Lions water boy who became the CFL team’s president and chief executive officer, died Sunday after having a heart attack. He was 69.

“It was our league that virtually adopted him when he was just a boy, and it’s our league that has looked to him as a man for counsel, inspiration and leadership by example,” CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said.

“As much as the CFL has meant to Bob, he has meant so much more to us.”

Besides his years with the Lions, Ackles worked in the NFL with Dallas, Arizona, Philadelphia and Miami. He also was the vice president and general manager of the Las Vegas Outlaws of the XFL.

“Knowing Bob, he would want things to move forward,” Lions coach Wally Buono said. “Football was a big part of Bob’s life. Like Bob used to tell me, ‘Wally, sleep on the losses. When you wake up tomorrow, start working on the next victory.”’

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A member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the BC Sports Hall of Fame, Ackles is survived by wife Kay and sons Steve and Scott, the president of the Calgary Stampeders.